Posner, Donald 1931–2005
Posner, Donald 1931–2005
OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born August 30, 1931, in New York, NY; died of esophageal cancer, August 13, 2005, in New York, NY. Art historian, educator, and author. Posner was a fine arts professor at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. He specialized in Italian and French art of the Baroque period. After serving in the Air Force during the Korean War as a radar specialist, he completed a B.A. at Queens College in 1956. He went to Harvard University for his M.A. the next year, and graduated with a Ph.D. from New York University in 1962. While studying at New York University, he came under the influence of Baroque expert Walter Friedlaender, and this inspired him to specialize in seventeenth-and eighteenth-century art. Posner decided to remain at New York University after he graduated and he joined the faculty as an instructor. He eventually became Ailsa Mellon Bruce Professor of Fine Arts in 1975, as well as deputy director of the Institute of Fine Arts from 1983 until his 2002 retirement. In addition to his work at the institute, he was the author of several well-received studies, including Annibale Carracci: A Study in the Reform of Italian Painting around 1590 (1972) and Antoine Watteau (1984).
OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
Grand Rapids Press (Grand Rapids, MI), September 4, 2005, p. B7.
New York Times, August 28, 2005, p. A21.